US court allowed Hasidim to seek from Russia $ 43.7 mln recovery in the case of "Schneerson Collection"

The federal judge ordered Russia to pay a fine of $43.7 million for refusing to return a collection of Jewish books and documents to the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch group.

"Given the United States’ current sanctions against Russia and Russian interests based upon various geopolitical events, the court is unpersuaded by such a vague concern in this case," as stated Judge of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia Royce Lamberth TASS. "There is simply no evidence on the record that this case has any impact on relations between the United States and Russia outside of this case," he added.

Schneerson Collection contains of 12,000 books and 50,000 religious documents known as "Schneerson Library". The material was amassed in the two centuries before World War II, and kept since then in Russia.

Russian Embassy in the U.S. refused to comment on the court ruling in the "Schneerson Collection" case.